By Mohammed Al-Kinani
JEDDAH – Two young Saudis, Ali Al-Hamzan and Hussein Al-Mansour, have begun a tour of the 13 regions of the country on the noble mission of spreading awareness of the importance of the call of Prince Mishal Bin Abdul Aziz, Chairman of the Allegiance (Pledge) Commission, to eliminate racism and tribal discrimination in the Kingdom. Inspired by the words of King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, and Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, Emir of the Makkah Region, the two young men decided that “it was time for us to do something for our country,” Al-Hamzan told Saudi Gazette. “Prince Mishal, Chairman of the Allegiance Commission, has been calling for people to fight against racism. We contacted him and told him of our plans and he blessed the idea and promised to fully finance our tour. He told us that we should visit all parts of the country to help raise awareness of the issue,” Al-Hamzan added.Social unity and intellectual security have always been of the utmost importance to the leaders of Saudi Arabia. “One of the main interests of our leaders is maintaining solidarity and unity among people,” Al-Hamzan said. He added that he and his friend, Al-Mansour, believe in Prince Mishal’s efforts to work to remove an evil that could negatively affect the distinctive social fabric of the Kingdom.“We are planning to tour all the 13 regions of the country. It is true that there are only two of us, but, in a way, we represent all the members of society. We have met with many officials, including Prince Khaled Al-Faisal and Fahd Bin Muammar, Governor of Taif. We will also try to meet with ministers and different segments of society,” he explained.Al-Hamzan pointed out that they have also met with ordinary people at commercial centers and with people in the street. He said that they want to listen to what people have to say and the ideas they might have about the elimination of racism.“We found that nearly everyone we met is against all types of uncontrolled ethnicity and racism,” he said and added that there have recently been several racial provocations as a result of programs broadcast on tribal satellite channels and the publicity given to camel beauty contests. He pointed out that Prince Mishal has called for these camel beauty contests to be merged into one to be held at the annual Al-Janadriyah Cultural Festival.According Al-Hamzan, some people he has talked to feel that the Ministries of Education and Culture and Information should play a role in fighting racism.“Violence sometimes appears in schools and people would like the Ministry of Education to do something about it. Some others we have met believe that some satellite channels pour oil on the fire. Our job is to collect comments from these people and meet with ministers to discuss the comments that people have made,” Al-Hamzan explained.He added that they expect ministers to propose solutions to the problem of racism.“In the end, we will hand over a full report to Prince Mishal who will see what can be done. In fact, such a report will be important in carrying out further studies or in making decisions. The officials in the Prince’s office are with us step by step on a daily basis to see the progress of our tour. This is evidence of Prince Mishal’s keenness to eradicate racism that can harm the unity of our society,” he added.Some people whom Al-Hamzan and Al-Mansour met asked whether the tour was actually aimed at the Kingdom’s tribes. “We told these people that this is not true and that we fully support all tribal concepts that call for positive values. These people then realized what the tour was all about and expressed their readiness to lend a hand,” he said.Al-Hamzan pointed out that they would visit the main tribal chiefs to discuss with them ways to eliminate racism, and that they would also visit religious figures and the presidents of sports clubs for the same reason. “We should all work together, shoulder to shoulder, to fight racism in all aspects of our life. Nowadays, many tribal chiefs do not play the same role that they once played in the past in educating the members of their tribes. Have you recently heard of a tribal chief who has gathered together some of the members of his tribe to discuss such issues with them?” he asked.Al-Hamzan anticipates that the tour will take up to six months to complete so that all parts of the country can be covered. “You cannot imagine what we can achieve if we all work together. Ministers, imams, teachers, families and intellectuals – working together, they can surely solve any problem,” he said.
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